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Charles Whitman Research Guide


Whitman Home | Research Guide | Images

The following is a list of resources available at the Austin History Center for those researching the Charles Whitman mass murder. Both primary and secondary sources are included in this list. All of these materials are available for use in our Reading Room.

Archive and Manuscript Collection

Austin Texas. Police Department Records of the Charles Whitman Mass Murder Case [AR.2000.002]
Includes police reports, witness statements, diaries and other personal effects belonging to Whitman.

Inquest Docket, Justice of the Peace Precinct 3, Place 2, Travis County, Texas, 1966-67.
Includes records and some death certificates for the following individuals:
Eckman, Thomas Frederick, p. 18.
Sonntag, Paul Bolton
Speed, Billy Paul
Whitman, Charles Joseph
Whitman, Margaret E.
Inquest Docket, Justice of the Peace Precinct 5, Travis County, Texas, 1960-1972.
Includes inquest report on Kathleen Whitman on page 54.

Lavergne Papers [AR.2002.001]
Includes the manuscript for Gary Lavergne's book, A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Mass Murders, and a collection of articles about the author and his book.

Records of the Office of the City Clerk [AR.2001.014]
Box 21, folder 10 of this collection contains telegrams and correspondence related to Whitman.

Playboy. October, 1970. [qAR Box 18 Item 6]
"The Many Faces of Murder," by Bruce Porter. Includes The Charles Whitman Papers.

Life. August 12, 1966. [qAR Box 18 Item 4]
"Texas Sniper's Murder Rampage."

Austin American. August 2, 1966. [qAR Box18 Item 1]

Austin Statesman. August 2 & 3, 1966. [qAR Box 18 Items 2 & 3]

Fort Worth Star-Telegram. August 2, 1966. [qAR Box 18 Item 5]

Family First 2002 [qAR box 18 Item 8].
"UT Tower Massacre Still Haunting Austin Police Hero" - about Houston McCoy

The Police Line 2002 [qAR Box 18 Item 7].
"City Say no to counseling for Police Heros PTSD"

Book Collection
Admissions: The Extraordinary History of Brackenridge Hospital [A 352.4 Fa]
by Lisa Fahrenthold and Sara Rider, 1984.

Austin City Directories
Listings for Charles and Kathleen Whitman during the mid-1960s.

The Impossible Tree [A 364.1523 La]
by Mary Frances (Gabour) Lamport, 1972.

The University Methodist Pulpit [A 287.676431 Un]
"Is There an Answer?" by Jack D. Hooper, 1966.

Texas Crime Chronicles [A 364.9764 Te]
"The Madman in the Tower" by William J. Helmer, 2000.

Mass Murderers [A 364.1523092 Ma]
Time-Life Books, 1993.

The World in 1966: History as We Lived It [A 909.826 As]
"One Day of Wrath." Associated Press, 1967.

A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Mass Murders [A 364.1509764 La]
by Gary M. Lavergne, 1997.

Press Conference. Report to the Governor, Medical Aspects Charles J. Whitman Catastrophe, 1966
[A 364.1523 Pr]



Subject Files
AF Biography: Hipple, Augusta
The Austin fortuneteller who read Whitman's cards.

AF Biography: Lavergne, Gary
Author of Sniper in the Tower.

AF Biography: McCoy, Houston
One of the Austin Police officers to shoot Whitman.

AF Biography: Martinez, Ramiro
One of the Austin Police officers to shoot Whitman.

AF Biography: Spelce, Fannie Lou
Includes information about on-the-scene newsman Neal Spelce.

AF Murders--Mass--Whitman, Charles [AF -- M8960]
5 vertical folders of newspaper and magazine articles, inquest reports, autopsies, psychiatric evaluation and various other items.


Musical Recordings Collection
"The Ballad of Charles Whitman" on Sold American.
Kinky Friedman, 1973. [CD MC FRIE 167]

Oral History Collection

*Note - Check the "AF-Biography" files under the interviewee's name for a transcript of the oral history, if one exists.

Dr. Joe Abell
Emergency Room doctor at Brackenridge Hospital during the shooting. Interview not dated.

Camille Clay, R.N.
Nurse at Brackenridge Hospital during the shooting. Interviewed May 26, 1983.

Judge Jerry Dellana
Justice of the Peace who performed inquests on most of the victims and on Whitman, himself. Interview not dated.

Dowdy, Julia Ruth and Wood, Ruby Anne Corder
Graduates of the Nursing School at Brackenridge. Interviewed May 7, 1983.

Morris Hohmann
Ambulance attendant wounded by Whitman shots. Interviewed May 31, 1983(?).

Rita Jaso, R.N.
Head surgical nurse on duty the day of the shooting. Interviewed June 21, 1983.

Eunice Kelly
Emergency Room nurse on duty the day of the shooting. Interviewed May 23, 1983.

Dr. Albert Lalonde
Chief of Staff at Brackenridge Hospital in 1966. Interview not dated.

Mary Frances (Gabour) Lamport
Wounded in shooting. Interviewed in 1974 by Art Young of KRMH-FM. Transcript in AF Murders -- Mass -- Whitman, Charles Joseph

Dr. Claud Martin
Old Brackenridge Hospital. Interviewed February 18, 1983.

Dr. Robert Pape
Emergency Room doctor who treated victims. Interviewed June 14, 1983.

Joe Roddy
Newsman who reported from Brackenridge Emergency Room on the status of the victims. Interviewed June 14, 1983.

May Schmidt
Friend of 2 victims briefly discusses incident in this oral history interview, February 14, 2000.

J. A. "Buck" Smith
Justice of the Peace who helped identify shooting victims at Hospital. Interviewed July 5, 1983.

Neal Spelce
On-the-scene television newsman. Interviewed June 14, 1983.

Ben Tobias
Administrator, Brackenridge Hospital, directed personnel that day. Interview not dated.

Norma White, R.N.
Operating Room supervisor at Brackenridge during the incident. Interview not dated.

Ralph Webster Yarborough
U.S. Senator from Texas, 1957 - 1971. Interviewed June 24, 1974.


Periodical Collection
Austin American-Statesman
The Austin History Center has the Austin American, Austin Statesman, and Austin American-Statesman on microfilm. In 1966 coverage occurred on several days throughout the month of August. In subsequent years articles often appeared near the anniversary of the shootings. Some indexing is available to help locate articles.

The Austin Citizen, August 1, 1977.
"Tower Tragedy Sequel: She's Still Not Bitter" by Carolyn Bengtson.

Austin Jaycee Keynote, August 9, 1966.
"Program This Thursday to Honor 'Tower Tragedy' Heroes."

Austin Jaycee Keynote, August 15, 1966.
"Tower Heroes to Honored at Luncheon."

Life, Vol 61, 1966
"Texas Sniper's Murder Rampage" by William J. Aelmer [A 364.1523 Te]

Texas Monthly, August 1986.
"The Madman in the Tower" by William J. Helmer.

Texas Monthly, September 2001.
"Where Are They Now?" by Chester Rossom.


Photograph Collection
AF Murders -- Mass -- Whitman, Charles Joseph [AF-M9860]


AF University of Texas -- Buildings -- Main Building, Tower [AF-U3455]

Austin Texas. Police Department Records of the Charles Whitman Mass Murder Case [AR.2002.002]
Archival Photo Collection includes photographs that were taken by the Police Department and photographs, belonging to Whitman, that were seized by the Police as part of the investigation. Currently not available--in processing.


Video and DVD Recordings

Teleclip
Videos recording daily newscasts typically feature stories about the Whitman murders around the time of the anniversary, August 1. Longer segments were typically produced around major anniversaries, such as thirty years.

Sniper '66: the Charles Whitman Murders at the Texas Tower
a film by Whitney Milam, Austin: Fox Television Stations, 2006 available in two versions [A DVD 364.1523 SN DVR-R ver.2.1]

This documentary aired on local station KTBC, Austin, Texas on July 29, 2006, followed by an edited version (approx 21 minutes) of a one-hour news special which KTBC aired the night of the shootings. Whitney Milam, producer-director and Danny Baker, executive producer.
The second version is a 61 minute full-length version of the documentary.
Slacker
Richard Linklater's 1991 satirical comedy contains a scene referencing the Whitman tragedy. [VHS 791.43 SL]


Yearbooks
Cactus [A 378.005 Ca]
University of Texas yearbook. The 1963 yearbook includes the yearbook photographs of students Kathleen and Charles Whitman.

Rebel Roundup [A 373.05 Ro]
William B. Travis High School yearbook. The 1967 edition features an article on student and shooting victim Alex Hernandez.

Viking [A 373.05 Vi]
Sidney Lanier High School yearbook. The 1967 edition includes a dedication to victims Kathleen Whitman and Karen Griffith, Lanier teacher and student.